Volume 14, Chapter 881 – Twenty-Nine Heart Fragment Pieces

“What are we waiting for?”

Cheng Hongling asked, puzzled. They had just managed to escape; now was the time to flee this place of chaos, not linger.

“Have you forgotten? Among the evil spirits here, four of them still have fragments of the Demon Ancestor’s heart. We can’t just let them escape. If they get away now, where will we find them again later?”

Qi Huang reminded her, then immediately continued scanning the situation on Ziji Planet. Her current Divine Sense had reached the fourth layer of the Heavenly Immortal, capable of covering nearly half a star system… this distance was nothing to her. She could clearly sense every movement happening on Ziji.

“Oh, right! I almost forgot about that.”

Cheng Hongling had a sudden realization and started scanning the planet as well. Her cultivation was now at the level of a Monarch-grade Immortal, this level of exertion was trivial to her.

Meanwhile, the situation on Ziji Planet remained chaotic. Though the evil spirits had escaped through the hole Qi Huang pierced, that didn’t mean they could flee easily.

“All immortal soldiers and generals of Ziji City, listen well. Don’t let a single evil spirit escape!”

Ziji Immortal Emperor bellowed as he battled An Xuan.

“Yes!”

The immortal troops responded in unison and began slaughtering the evil spirits. With overwhelming strength on their side, the scene quickly turned into a one-sided massacre.

Although the four evil spirits with Demon Ancestor heart fragments were powerful, they were soon surrounded and had no hope of escape.

“Alright, my love. It’s our time to make an appearance!”

Qi Huang stored Cheng Hongling and a few corpses in her storage ring, then sped toward Ziji City, intending to return a favor in exchange for a reward.

The first evil spirit holding a fragment was a spider zombie. Despite her countless offspring and formidable webs, she encountered an immortal general who used True Qi of Fire, her natural counter. The result: she was soon burnt all over, covered in scars and barely able to move.

“Run? Why aren’t you running anymore? You think you can come to Ziji City and then leave? No, your rightful place is hanging from the city wall as my trophy!”

The immortal general lunged viciously, spear in hand.

The spider zombie lay still in midair, clearly drained of any will or ability to resist.

“I’ll help you escape. In return, you give me the Demon Ancestor’s heart fragment in your body.”

At that moment, Qi Huang suddenly appeared nearby.

The spider zombie jolted like she had been electrocuted, flipping upright like a corpse reanimated.

“Who are you? How dare you ignore me, the general?”

The immortal general hadn’t been guarding the east gate earlier and didn’t recognize Qi Huang.

She ignored him entirely and continued speaking to the spider creature. “Have you thought it through? Either you give me the heart fragment as payment, or I just stand here and watch. When you die, I’ll take it anyway, and no one will say a word.”

“If you can get me out of here, I’ll give it to you.”

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The spider zombie wasn’t stupid. After a brief moment of thought, she agreed.

“How dare you ignore me! You’re courting death!”

The immortal general flew into a rage and charged at Qi Huang. His subordinates followed, yelling foolishly, completely unaware of their doom.

“If you insist on dying, then I have no choice but to grant your wish.”

Qi Huang sighed and furrowed her brows slightly. Her Divine Sense swept across the surroundings. In an instant, the bodies and souls of all the immortal soldiers and generals were reduced to ash.

“Hsssss…”

The spider zombie drew in a sharp breath, eyes filled with fear.

Qi Huang stored her in the ring and rushed toward the next target.

Within just fifteen minutes, Qi Huang had rescued all four targets and successfully traded for their heart fragments.

Holding the four newly obtained fragments, Cheng Hongling was so excited she nearly lost control. “I’ve now got sixteen heart fragments. Add that to the thirteen still in the Three Queens’ bodies, and that’s twenty-nine! Just three more to go! This isn’t just a harvest, it’s a full-on restocking!”

Qi Huang kept observing Ziji Planet. An Xuan was still engaged in a standoff with the Ziji Immortal Emperor. Despite having greater strength, she couldn’t overpower him quickly while he wielded imperial weapons.

“My love, do you think she’s an enemy or an ally?”

Qi Huang bit her lip as she asked.

“……”

Cheng Hongling came back to her senses but didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t omniscient, how could she possibly know?

“If she’s an enemy, it makes sense for us to stay out of it. But what if she’s an ally? Could we really just watch and do nothing? Once the Immortal Alliance’s reinforcements arrive…”

Qi Huang’s voice trembled slightly as she hesitated.

“Let’s wait and see. If she can’t escape, we’ll find a way to help.”

Cheng Hongling gently reassured her.

“Hahaha… The Immortal Alliance army is almost here. You’re dead today, for sure!”

Outside Ziji City, the Ziji Immortal Emperor grinned menacingly.

An Xuan’s beautiful eyes curved into crescents. “If you can’t laugh naturally, don’t force it. The Three Queens’ bodies have been taken. Inside them are over a dozen Demon Ancestor heart fragments and power from the Assimilation Heavenly Dao. How will you explain that to those Celestials above you?”

“I’ll answer with your death!”

The Ziji Immortal Emperor shouted in fury.

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“Are you sure you’ll survive long enough for the Immortal Alliance’s army to arrive?”

An Xuan asked coldly. Suddenly, a terrifying wave of green corpse poison erupted from her body, sweeping outward like a tsunami and smashing into the imperial weapon sword formation.

Hsssss…

The mighty imperial weapon sword array began to show spots of corrosion, rapidly growing larger.

BOOM…

At the same time, the pink assimilation domain struck with full force, violently battering the formation.

CRACK… CRACK…

Cracks spread like a web across the formation, one after another.

“What kind of corpse poison is this?”

Fear crossed the Ziji Immortal Emperor’s face.

“Nothing much. I’ve just lived longer than most. You didn’t actually think your lousy sword formation could hold me, did you?”

An Xuan’s melodious laughter rang out. She looked completely at ease.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, the Ziji Immortal Emperor recalled his five imperial weapons and turned to flee.

An Xuan didn’t chase. Her figure rose into the sky and disappeared into the horizon.

At that moment, a teleportation array lit up at the city gates, and the Immortal Alliance’s army poured out.

“Looks like your concern was unnecessary. The Immortal Alliance has arrived. Let’s get out of here.”

Cheng Hongling urged hastily.

Qi Huang shook off her shock, quickly stored the remaining corpses, and opened a teleportation portal to leave.

“My love, if An Xuan’s that strong, why did she pretend to be trapped?”

During the teleportation, Qi Huang couldn’t help but ask.

“Who knows what she’s planning?”

Cheng Hongling gave a wry smile. “But one thing is certain… she probably doesn’t mean us any harm.”

“Why do you say that?”

Qi Huang pressed curiously.

“Think about it. She’s powerful enough to control the battlefield. If she really wanted those heart fragments, would she have let us take the corpses?”

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Cheng Hongling explained.

“That does make sense.”

Qi Huang nodded thoughtfully.

“Of course, that’s just my analysis. We still can’t let our guard down around her.”

Cheng Hongling quickly added.

“Mm!”

Qi Huang obediently nodded.

After several days of teleportation, the women returned to Minghou Planet. By now, Qi Huang had stubbornly reverted to her male persona.

Qi Huang released the three princesses and respectfully returned the three corpses.

“Fairy Chen, I promised before: if you could retrieve my mother’s remains, I would give you the heart fragments and assimilation power within. Now you may take them.”

Tao Chun choked back her sorrow as she fulfilled her promise.

Beside her, Qianqian and Ni Xian also nodded in agreement. Recovering their mothers’ bodies had been their greatest wish, nothing else mattered.

“Then I won’t be polite.”

Qi Huang immediately extracted thirteen Demon Ancestor heart fragments from the three bodies and handed them to Cheng Hongling.

“All twenty-nine heart fragments are finally gathered. Only three more remain.”

Joy lit up Cheng Hongling’s face.

“My love, I have a plan that’ll require a lot of assimilation power. I won’t be sharing it with you this time.”

Qi Huang explained to Cheng Hongling.

“Go ahead and absorb it. I only care about these heart fragments.”

Cheng Hongling didn’t even look up as she responded. Her focus was completely on the fragments.

Without hesitation, Qi Huang took the three corpses to a secluded room and began absorbing. It took an entire day and night to finish digesting everything.

Finished.

Qi Huang glanced inward and was delighted to find the assimilation true qi within her had reached the Monarch-grade Immortal level. Though it couldn’t directly raise her cultivation, its utility to her was immense. At the very least, it would allow her to develop puppets without restraint in the future.

Of course, puppet-making wasn’t Qi Huang’s only goal. She would need far more assimilation power than this.

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‘Still a long way to go. If I could take An Xuan’s assimilation power for myself…’

Qi Huang’s ambitions burned bright in her mind.

“So, what’s that plan you mentioned?”

Cheng Hongling asked when she saw her return.

“Ah, well… I wouldn’t call it a plan, more like a strategy to deal with an enemy. I don’t even know if it’ll work or if I’ll ever get to use it.”

Qi Huang scratched her head awkwardly. The idea was so far-fetched she was embarrassed to share it.

“Then forget it.”

Cheng Hongling didn’t push. She had her own secrets, too.

“By the way, don’t forget that the Ziji Immortal Emperor still has one of Lu Yao’s heart fragments.”

She changed the subject.

“Of course. Wasn’t that the decoy Sea Queen sent to Baofeng Planet? Don’t worry, I’ll get it for you eventually.”

Qi Huang patted her chest confidently.

“That just leaves two pieces. Too bad we have no leads on them.”

Cheng Hongling’s brows furrowed again.

“Just two. If we can’t find them, it’s fine. If they didn’t appear this time, they probably fell somewhere remote and won’t cause us any trouble.”

Qi Huang tried to reassure her.

“No. We must find them.”

Cheng Hongling’s voice was firm, unusually insistent.

Meanwhile, back at Ziji City, a short, plump old man stood at the gates, looking up at the empty city walls. His teeth nearly shattered from clenching so hard.

“Ziji Immortal Emperor, where are the evil spirits that were up there? I want a proper explanation.”

The fat old man glared at the grim-faced Ziji Immortal Emperor beside him.